Rider steered power grass and weed cutter



Jan. 24, 1961 BROWN 2,968,902

RIDER STEERED POWER GRASS AND WEED CUTTER Filed 001;. 3, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. .1

JNVENTOR. #nzey aeow/v,

ATTORNEYS.

Jan. 24, 1961 H. H. BROWN RIDER STEEIRED POWER GRASS AND WEED CUTTER Filed Oct. 5, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 4r roe/vsys.

Jan. 24, 1961 H. H. BROWN 2,968,902

RIDER STEERED POWER GRASS AND WEED CUTTER Filed Oct. 5, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 7 A54 FIG. 3. we W FIG. 4.

INVENTOR. HARRY h. BEO

United RIDER STEERED POWER GRASS AND WEED CUTTER Harry H. Brown, R.F.D. 3, Box 18A, Lake City, Fla.

Filed Oct. 3, 1958, Ser. No. 765,150

Claims. (Cl. 5625.4)

This invention relates to an improved rider-steered power driven heavy duty grass and weed cutter.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a structurally and mechanically superior device of this kind which is simpler in construction, and gives long and etficient service with a minimum of servicing and repair.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the character indicated above whose frame is a single unit of substantially parallelogram form, composed of components which are of rigid but relatively lightweight character, and which are rigidly and securely connected together, as by welding.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the character indicated above having a single front steering and driving or traction wheel, and a pair of rear wheels, and means for selectively adjusting the distance between the tread of the rear wheels.

Other important objects and advantageous features of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, wherein, for purposes of illustration only, a specific form of the invention is set forth in detail.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a right hand side perspective view of a device of the invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal substantially central section taken through the device;

Figure 3 is a rear end elevation of the device, partly broken away and in section, and showing adjusted positions of the rear wheels in full and in phantom lines; and

Figure 4 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Referring in detail to the drawings, wherein like numerals designate like parts throughout the several views, the illustrated device, generally designated 10, comprises a longitudinally elongated, vertical and substantially parallelogram frame 12, which is in the form of a single welded or bolted unit having maximum rigidity and strength. The frame 12 comprises a relatively wide inverted channel-iron and straight horizontal lower bar 14, having a forwardly inclined kick-up 16 at its forward end which terminates at its forward end in a relatively short horizontal front wheel supporting portion 18. The forward end of the portion 18 is closed and braced by the lower part of an upstanding end plate 20, Welded thereto.

The frame 1?; further comprises a channel-iron perpendicular rear standard 22 which faces rearwardly and is fixedly secured at its lower end upon the web 24 of the lower frame bar 14, at a point slightly rearward of the midlength of the lower bar 14. The standard 22 has a web 26 to which is suitably secured at the upper end thereof the rear end of a downwardly facing chan narrower than and are centered with respect to the low-.

2,968,902 Patented Jan. 24, 1961 2 er frame bar 14. A web 34 secured across the forward end of the upper frame bar 28 is traversed by a bolt 36 which extends through and secures the: upper end of the front end plate 20 to the forward end of the upper frame bar 28.

The frame 12 further comprises a transversely elongated vertical plate 44 which is suitably secured to and across the rear end of the lower frame bar 14 and extends beyond the opposite sides thereof, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, to whose rearward. side at the lower edge thereof is suitably secured a transversely elongated axle tube 46, which is traversed by axle locking set screws 43 located near its outer ends. Slidably engaged in the axle tube 46 from the outer ends thereof for endwise adjustments for determining the rear wheel tread are axles 50 having suitable ground-engaging rear wheels 52 journaled on their outer ends. Adjustments of the rear Wheels 52 are locked by threading the set screws 48 against the axles 50.

Forwardly inclined braces 54 are suitably secured at their lower ends to the axle tube 46 at the outer ends thereof and converge and have their upper ends suitably secured to the opposite sides of a bracket 56 which is secured in the standard 22 to and between the web and the side flanges thereof, at a desired height above the lower frame bar 14. A rearwardly extending horizontal seat supporting bar 58 is secured at its forward end upon the bracket 56 and has mounted on its rear end a drivers bucket seat 60, which is located over and between the rear wheels 52.

The forward part of the frame 12 is steerably sup ported on a single front wheel assembly, generally designated 62, which comprises a fork 64 composed of two laterally outwardly facing vertical channel-iron arms 66 and a head plate 68 secured across their upper ends. A removable axle 70 traverses the lower ends of the arms 66, and a suitable front driving wheel 72 is journaled on the axle between these arms. Fixed in suitable manner to and between the head plate 68 and the webs of the fork arms 66 is a first gear box 74 having removable front and rear plates 76 and 78, respectively. A horizontal lateral shaft 80 is journaled through one side of the gear box 74 and the related fork arm 66 and has on its inner end within the gear box a bevel gear 82 and on its outer end at the related side of the fork 64 a sprocket wheel 84.

Extending downwardly into the gear box 74 through an opem'ng 86 in the head plate 68 is a second vertical shaft 83 having on its lower end a bevel pinion 90 which is in mesh. with the bevel gear 82. The vertical shaft 88 is journaled through upper and lower anti-friction bearings X2 and 94 fixed in a vertical tubular holder 96 which is fixed within a vertical sleeve 98 which is fixed at its lower end to the fork head plate 68. The sleeve 98 is journaled in -a vertical bearing tubes 100 which is suitably iixed through and extends above and below the web of the ltick-up portion 18 at the midlength point therof. The sleeve 98 extends above the bearing tube 100 and has removably secured thereon, as by a set screw 102, a front sprocket wheel 104. Trained around the sprocket wheel 104 is an endless drive sprocket chain 106 which is also trained around a sprocket wheel 108 fixed on the lower end of a steering wheel shaft 110 which depends through and is journaled, as indicated at 112, through the web 30 of the upper frame bar 28 near the rear end thereof, and has secured on its upper end a steering wheel 114, within easy reach of a driver seated in the drivers seat 60. The steering shaft sprocket wheel 108, as shown in Figure 2, is on a level with the front fork steering sprocket wheel 104.

The front steering and driving or traction wheel 72 has fixed on a side thereof a relatively large diameter sprocket wheel lie, and an endless sprocket driving chain 118 is trained over the sprocket wheel 116 and over the sprocket wheel 84 on the outer end of the horizontal shaft 80 of the steering fork gear box 74.

Keyed, as indicated at 120, on the upper end of the vertical shaft 88 of the fork gear box 74, above the sprocket wheel 104 is a split spring loaded V-groove pulley wheel 122 having a front wheel driving V-belt 124 trained therearound. The pulley wheel 122 comprises a lower relatively stationary section 123, and an upper relatively movable section 125, also keyed on the shaft 88. The upper section 125 is suitably biased toward the lower section 123, as by a spring 127 circumposed on the shaft 88 and compressed between the upper section 125 and a head 129 on the upper end of the shaft 88. The pulley wheel 122 serves to take up slack in the belt 124 as the clutch pulley 160, hereinafter described, is opened and closed, and acts as a variable speed pulley and clutch. The pulley wheel 122 has a peripheral edge 126. A vertical post 128 is secured to and extends between the webs of the kick-up portion 18 and the upper frame bar 28 at a point forwardly of and at one side of the pulley wheel 122, to which is secured, as indicated at 130, the forward end of a flexible brake band 132 which is trained partly around the peripheral braking edge 126 of the pulley wheel 122 and extends rearwardly beneath the upper frame bar 28 at one side of and above the steering chain 106, and is engageable with the edge 126 of the pulley wheel 122.

A second gear box 134 is suitably secured to the forward side of the web 26 of the standard 22 at a midheight point thereon and has journaled through the side thereof remote from the front wheel driving chain 118, a horizontal shaft 136 having a dual pulley wheel 138 on its outer end and a bevel gear 140 on its inner end, which is in mesh with a vertical bevel gear 142, as shown in Figure 4.

The vertical bevel gear 142 is fixed on a midpoint of a first vertically elongated driven cutter rotor shaft 144 which extends through openings in the top and bottom walls 146 and 148, respectively of the gear box 134, and is fixedly journaled in upper and lower antifriction bearings 150 and 152 which are secured to the top and bottom 146 and 148, respectively. The rotor shaft 144 has a splined upper end portion 154, extending upwardly through an opening 156 in the web 30 of the upper frame bar 28, and has secured thereon between the splined portion 154 and the upper bearing 150 the fixed lower section 158 of a clutch pulley 160. The clutch pulley 160 includes an upper section 162 which slide vertically and non-rotatably on the splined portion 154 of the cutter rotor shaft 144, and the drive belt 124 is trained around the pulley 160 between the sections 158 and 162.

For operating the upper clutch pulley section 162 toward and away from the lower clutch pulley section 158, for clutching and releasing the drive belt 124 relative to the rotary shaft 144, a clutch fork 164 is provided which has rearwardly extending fingers 166 pivoted at 168 to opposite sides of the upper section 162. The clutch fork 164 is fixed on a horizontal transverse clutch shaft 170 which is journaled through the right hand side flange 172 of the upper frame bar 28 and has a fixed depending operating lever 174, on its outer end, which depend along the right-hand side of the frame 12 and has on its lower end a lateral pedal 176 to be engaged by a foot of the driver of the device.

Fixed on the other end of the clutch shaft 170, which is journaled also through the left-hand side flange 178 of the upper frame bar 28, remote from the operating lever 174, is a crank arm 180 to which the rear end of the brake band 132 is pivotally connected, as shown in Figure 3 and indicated at 182. Because of these operative connections to the operating lever 174 the brake band 132 is applied and released in cooperation with engagement and release of the drive belt clutch pulley 160.

The rotor shaft 144 is sectional and its upper section 184 has a splined lower end portion 186 which slides non-rotatably in the upper part of a sleeve 188 which constitutes the lower section of the rotor shaft 144. The sleeve 188 depends through an opening 190 provided in the web 24 of the lower frame bar 14, and extends downwardly through openings in a hub plate 192 and the top wall 194 of a rotor pan 196, and through an anti-friction bearing 198, secured, as indicated at 200, to the underside of the top wall 194. The sleeve 188 is closed at its lower end and thereat terminates in a reduced diameter terminal 202 which defines a stop shoulder 204 thereabove. A retaining collar 206 is circumposed on the reduced terminal 202 and is secured against the shoulder 204, as by a set screw 208, so as to position and hold the lower rotor shaft section 188 relative to the rotor pan 196. Removably secured, as indicated at 210 to the lower end of the terminal 202 is a cutter rotor 212 of suitable form, which rotates in a plane near to and above the lower edges 214 of the side walls 216 depending from the pan top wall 194 and joined at their rear ends by a rear wall 218. The pan 196 is open at its forward end, as indicated at 220, which is provided with laterally spaced and depending grass or weed guiding teeth 222. As apparent in Figure l, the pan 196 is preferably of substantially half-elliptical shape in plan, with the pan rear wall 218 close to and concentric to the rotor 212 and with the forward end of the pan spaced forwardly from the rotor.

For elevating and depressing the pan 196 and the rotor 212 relative to the ground, when desired, and for properly positioning the pan 196 relative to the frame 12, the pan top hub plate 192 has fixedly upstanding thereon, at opposite sides of the lower frame bar 14, vertical guide rods 224 which slide through sleeves 226 fixed through the ends of an anchor plate 227 secured upon the upper side of the lower frame bar. The rods 224 have pivotally connected thereto at their upper ends, as indicated at 228 the forward ends of levers 230 which are fixed to a horizontal transverse shaft 232 which is journaled through a sleeve 234 fixed on the side flanges of the standard 22. The shaft 232 has preferably on its right end a fixed hand lever 236 for elevating and depressing the pan and rotor assembly, when desired. A chain 238 secured to the brace 54 is provided for releasably holding the hand lever 236 rearwardly with the pan and rotor assembly in elevated position.

A suitable motor, such as an air-cooled gasoline engine 240 is fixedly mounted, as indicated at 242 upon the web 24 of the lower frame bar 14 forwardly of the gear box 134, and has on the same side as the gear box drive pulley 138 a shaft pulley 244 which is operatively connected to the driven pulley 138 by means of a dual belt 246. The motor preferably has a suitable starting clutch arrangement 248.

With the foregoing provisions the pan and rotor assembly 250 can be raised and lowered relative to the ground while the device 10 is moving over the ground or is stationary, and whether or not the rotor 212 is in operation.

When the brake band 132 is released from braking engagernent with the front drive pulley 122 and the movable upper section 162 of the clutch is depressed to clutch the driving belt 124, by operating the foot lever 176, the front wheel 72 is driven to move the device forwardly over the ground and the rotor 212 is operated. The connections of the foot lever 176 with the movable clutch section 162 and with the brake band 132 are preferably arranged so that the brake band brakes the front pulley 122 only after the clutch 160 has been released.

For reversing the movement of the device 10 over the ground, it is necessary only to turn the steering wheel 114 a half turn, whereat the front drive wheel 72 is reversed in position and rotates in a direction to move the device 10 over the ground in the opposite direction.

When working between or straddling rows in a field being cut over with the device 10, the rear wheels 52 can be given the necessary wide or narrow spacing or tread by loosening the set screws 48 and sliding the axles 50 and hence the wheels 52 to the desired positions and retightening the set screws 48.

The use of relatively heavy gauge and deep channelirons for the construction of the frame 12 and their broad bearings against each other at the points of assembly thereof, provides a frame of great strength and rigidity, combined with compactness and simplicity, facilitating manufacture thereof, and reducing costs.

Although there has been shown and described herein a preferred form of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not necessarily confined thereto, and that any change or changes in the structure of and in the relative arrangements of components thereof are contemplated as being within the scope of the invention as defined by the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

1. In a rider steered power driven mower, a frame having rear supporting wheels and at least one driving wheel supporting the front of said frame, a first vertically- :disposed driven shaft extending through said frame intermediate the ends and having the lower end portion beneath said frame, a horizontally-disposed cutter positioned beneath said frame and drivingly connected to the lower end portion of said shaft, a fork including a head plate and a pair of arms depending therefrom, said driving wheel being disposed between the arms and rotatably supported in said arms, a vertical sleeve rising from said head plate and journaled in said frame, steering means operatively connected to said sleeve, a second verticallydisposed driven shaft extending through said sleeve, drive connections between said second shaft and said driving wheel, and driving connections between said first and second driven shafts.

2. In a rider steered power driven mower, a frame having rear supporting wheels and at least one driving wheel supporting the front of said frame, a first verticallydisposed driven shaft extending through said frame in termediate the ends and having the lower end portion beneath said frame, a horizontally-disposed cutter positioned beneath said frame and slidably and drivingly connected to the lower end portion of said shaft, means operatively connected to said cutter and said frame for raising and lowering said cutter with respect to said frame, a fork including a head plate and a pair of arms depending therefrom, said driving wheel being disposed between the arms and rotatably supported in said arms, a vertical sleeve rising from said head plate and journaled in said frame, steering means operatively connected to said sleeve, a second vertically-disposed driven shaft extending through said sleeve, drive connections between said second shaft and said driving wheel, and driving connections between said first and second driven shafts.

3. In a rider steered power driven mower, a frame having rear supporting wheels and at least one driving wheel supporting the front of said frame, a first verticallydisposed driven shaft extending through said frame intermediate the ends and having the lower end portion beneath said frame, a horizontally-disposed cutter positioned beneath said frame and slidably and drivingly connected to the lower end portion of said shaft, a pan encircling said cutter, means operatively connecting said cutter and pan to said frame for simultaneously raising and lowering said cutter and said pan with respect to said frame, a fork including a head plate and a pair of arms depending therefrom, said driving wheel being disposed between the arms and rotatably supported in said arms, a vertical sleeve rising from said head plate and journaled in said frame, steering means operatively connected to said sleeve, a second vertically-disposed driven shaft extending through said sleeve, drive connections between said second shaft and said driving wheel, and driving connections between said first and second driven shafts.

4. In a rider steered power driven mower, a frame in cluding a lower straight horizontal bar having a forward end and a rearward end, an upwardly-inclined portion rising from the forward end of said bar and terminating in its upper end in a horizontal portion, a standard rising from said bar inwardly of and spaced from the rearward end of said bar, an upstanding plate rising from said horizontal portion, an upper straight horizontal bar extending from the upper end of said standard to the upper end of said plate and fixedly attached to the upper ends of said standard and plate, a fork including a head plate and a pair of arms depending therefrom positioned beneath said horizontal portion, at least one driving wheel disposed between said arms and rotatably supported in said arms, a first vertically-disposed driven shaft extending through said lower bar and having the lower end portion beneath said lower bar, a horizontallydisposed c utter positioned beneath said lower bar and drivingly connected to the lower end portion of said shaft, a vertical sleeve rising from said head plate and journaled in said horizontal portion, steering means operatively connected to said sleeve, a second verticallydisposed driven shaft extending through said sleeve, drive connections between said second shaft and said driving wheel, and driving connections between said first and second driven shafts.

5. In a rider steered power driven mower, a frame including a lower straight horizontal bar having a forward end and a rearward end, an upwardly-inclined portion rising from the forward end of said bar and terminating in its upper end in a horizontal portion, a standard rising from said bar inwardly of and spaced from the rearward end of said bar, an upstanding plate rising from said horizontal portion, an upper straight horizontal bar extending from the upper end of said standard to the upper end of said plate and fixedly attached to the upper ends of said standard and plate, a fork including a head plate and a pair of arms depending therefrom positioned beneath said horizontal portion, at least one driving whee-l disposed between said arms and rotatably supported in said arms, a first gear box between said arms and dependingly carried by said head plate, a second gear box positioned on the side of said standard adjacent said inclined portion between the upper and lower ends of said standard and supported from said standard, a first vertically-disposed driven shaft extending through said second gear box and said lower bar and having the lower end portion beneath said lower bar, a horizontallydisposed cutter positioned beneath said lower bar and drivingly connected to the lower end portion of said shaft, a vertical sleeve rising from said head plate and journaled in said horizontal portion, steering means operatively connected to said sleeve, a second vertically-disposed driven shaft extending through said sleeve and into said first gear box, drive connections between said second shaft and said driving wheel, and driving connections between said first and second driven shafts.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,165,551 -Iverson July 11, 1939 2,385,360 Johnson et al. Sept. 25, 1945 2,859,579 Peck Nov. 11, 1958 2,860,474 Cyr Nov. 18, 1958 2,899,793 Swisher Aug. 18, 1959 

